Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Price Target Lowered to $25.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) had its price target reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $33.00 to $25.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the local business review company’s stock.

YELP has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group set a $28.00 price objective on Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of YELP opened at $20.65 on Tuesday. Yelp has a fifty-two week low of $19.61 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $359.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.70 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.96%. Yelp’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total value of $32,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 190,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,230,084.60. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 964,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,348,813.40. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 261,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,184. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Yelp by 553.8% in the third quarter. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850,000 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $26,520,000 after purchasing an additional 720,000 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 399.0% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 725,214 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $24,853,000 after buying an additional 579,894 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 268.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 753,173 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,811,000 after buying an additional 548,586 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Yelp by 217.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 551,212 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $18,890,000 after buying an additional 377,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Yelp by 1,144.9% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 351,006 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $12,029,000 after acquiring an additional 322,810 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Company Profile

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company’s flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.